Brief history of Horror films throughout the years

The History of Horror from FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo.

Above the man on this talks about the different films that are made and the Industries that are involved in created each film as well, this is very helpful as it gives me a little background information of how Horror films have been made throughout the years. It also shows how much Horror films have changed throughout the years and this genre has had an extremely low budget as well, most films in the 1940's used shadows instead of make up and special effects as this creates a scary atmosphere. I feel as though I could use shadows in my film as I haven't got a large budget either, so doing this idea will give it a horror edge and this idea is effective in showing a dark atmosphere and something terrifying is going to happen to the main character.

Looking back at my action plan

From the above Spreadsheet I have gotten to the point where I need to start researching my package as everything that is made in the Media Industry should all link together including the magazine and poster. Also I am going to start looking at different industries and their industry regulations, but I feel as though I am on top of everything and organised with what I am wanting to do overall for my coursework as I am aiming towards creating a trailer.


Note to self: Month/Date/Year

How to make a horror film - example for trailer

From the above Prezi presentation which I have summed down to the important parts, I have learnt that when focusing on the Horror genre you need to make sure the villain is the main focus. This then can mean that the trailer can be good or really bad depending on how scary this villain really is. Also when having a Horror there needs to be long takes for a scene to be able to build tension before seeing the villain, otherwise it can be boring and not make the audience scared enough. In addition, this is what I am mostly trying to aim towards and these key ideas is what I will keep in mind as I feel as though for my trailer the genre will be a horror.

I have paraphrased the above information from http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Horror-Film as it will help me with how to get a Horror film look. 

Stylistic Influences

From the textual analysis of the three trailers I found out that I need to make sure that a variety of camera shot angles, mise-en-scene and editing needs to be done precisely so the music and dialogue used flows correctly, plus at the same time not confusing anyone watching it. Also I will be using ideas like a POV shot from a character, as I really loved this from the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies trailer as it showed the point of view from the zombie as Mr.Darcey killed it and it was just filmed brilliantly, making it feel as if the audience members had all turned into a death eating zombie. As well as this, I have found out that the dialogue used links in really well with the scenes that are shown, to help make people understand a little bit of what is going on but not everything as they will see this when they see the actual film. Many trailers also start with an establishing shot to show where everything is set except from Before I Go To Sleep as this was supposed to show that she didn't know where she was; she kept forgetting everything the next day. This would then be understood by the audience that she can't remember her past life and something suspicious is going on in her present life.

My idea so far...

From learning what a trailer should look like, I would like to do something Horror or Thriller related as then I can add tension and make the target audience that I am aiming towards want to know exactly what happens. I will also have a lot of fun filming this by playing about with what type of Horror I want to do as there are many films out there I can look at and the same with Thriller movies too and I can give it my own identity. However I haven't come to a decision yet between both of these genres, so to help me make a decision I will start to look at both genres to then see which one is best for me to be able to film easily.

How to create a brand image

From looking at the below hyperlinked website, the things that I need to look out for when it comes to creating a brand should include...

• Have strategies towards what I want to do from the start, making sure that I create questionnaires to see whether my peers think it is a good idea or not and this will help me have a clear idea for what people want to make something successful. 
• Need to work with a brief, do research on brands that are already out there and understand exactly what audiences like to see a trailer to look like for a specific genre otherwise it won't stand out
• Know the audiences expectations
• Check the competition for my coursework by getting ideas from what my other class mates have done or past year 13s work
• Consider the bigger picture of the brand and don't just focus on the logo as it needs to all one thing
• Don't ignore the target audience as you want the trailer to appeal to them 
• Spot what everyone looks for as I want to connect with people that I am making my trailer for.

Reference: http://www.creativebloq.com/branding/create-brand-identity-1233282

How to Develop a great story

Above I have used an app called CamScanner, to allow me to use this information to help me with how to develop a story for my Media work. From this information I have found out that it needs to engage the audience and audiences want to have connections with the character with the characters. Also from this book it says that there needs to be a lot of research into the genre, otherwise there won't be a clear plot that is organised and because I am doing a trailer it still needs to flow and have a clear identity so by doing this the audience can then fall in love with it leading to popularity.

Reference of book: Digital Filmmaking Handbook by Mark Brindle, Foreword by Chris Jones, publish date 28/02/2013 and pages 120 - 121

Textual analysis of existing products #3

Star Wars - The Force Awakens - Trailer

Narrative

This film is set 30 years after the destruction of the second death star. Luke Skywalker is the only person still remaining and he is a Jedi, but has disappeared away from everyone who needs his help. Two new characters fin, who was a Stormtrooper, and Rey, who is an ordinary girl but has amazing powers of the mind, meet up out of no where to discover BB8 with a very important map. He firstly, discovers Rey near a junkyard settlement and Fin meets Poe BB8's master who was a prisoner and tried to kill the first order. Rey and Fin meet and they suddenly figure out what everything that is going on is to do with and what they discover is extraordinary. Following on from this, many well known characters from the old Star Wars movies are back in it again including Hans Solo (Harrison Ford), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). This gains a lot more popularity as the audiences know how good these actors act and they have also been involved in Star Wars ever since it started, this links in nicely to 'The Star System' because certain actors can be an important part of a films iconography.

Mise-en-scene

For this trailer the Mise-en-scene is used very frequently throughout from the way each character is dressed, the props (especially the well known light-sabers), the lighting and the sound creates each character as an individual as they all have their own identity. Linking still to Mise-en-scene we also see Stormtroopers near the beginning as the costumes they wear stand out a lot as danger, towards making the audience wonder what is going to happen next? What are they planning? Also we see a unique Stormtrooper as he says "he has nothing to fight for" this suggests that he is against whatever is getting planned and is unique to all the others, as he is taking is life into his own hands by doing the right thing.

Camera Shots

Also at the beginning of this film trailer there is a close up of the character wearing a mask around their face, this shows that this person is in a humid environment trying to protect themselves from something or might want to even hide their identity at first so the fans can keep guessing towards who they think it might be. The Director might of done this to suggest that everything is calm and nothing dangerous is happening yet, to also link to this person's unknown identity dialogue is used from a character who asks "Who are you?" showing that she might be one of the new characters. We then as an audience see a long shot of this person, still not sure whether she is female or male yet and then when we hear her voice we know it is a female "I'm no one" suggesting that she feels as though she isn't unique in any way and the audience wonders why she might have said this. Is it because she doesn't want the attention? We then see her doing her day-to-day job with a medium shot in the next scene, suggesting she is minding her own business and just likes being on her own without an identity.

Editing

When we see all the main characters the music then picks up as the lighting is dark red representing something dangerous is just around the corner, this even have a symbolic meaning towards a someone getting killed, this foreshadows something unexpected is going to happen. We also have a close up of the dead Darf Vader, this shows that something treacherous is going to happen as there is a new villain involved. As well as this we see a man being tortured be we don't know what for, this then links to a destruction of a planet, giving a symbolic meaning that whatever this person is getting out of him it can only mean death and destruction is coming. On the other hand, diegetic sound is used when we see the Millennium Falcon and this gives the spaceship identity and we understand exactly what it is when we hear this well known sound. When we also hear the Star Wars music being used it shows all of the fighting going off and the camera is mostly aimed at the main characters, especially Fin as there is a tracking shot used of him to show everything that is going off around him but most of all it is now down to him to get everything sorted and stop this war for good. In addition, when more dialogue is used "the force it's calling to you" the audience doesn't know who this person may be as every character is shown at the same time it is said, this makes the audience want to find out by going to see the film at the cinemas or buying the film on DVD to see who this person may be.

Extra information

Overall, there is a lot of special effects used in this piece as it is a sci-fi film, often made by computer generated images (CGI) to create meaning. This helps make the film look like it is set in space and different worlds that we have never seen before, creating a picture of what exactly is going off without making it too confusing and this takes a lot of time and effort to get perfect plus a lot of money is paid out for special effects as well.

Richard Dyer's Star Theory Analysis

Richard Dyer’s Star Theory from Megan Ladds

Above is a really helpful PowerPoint, as it gives background information towards what audiences are looking for and what makes a product stand out as well. Following on from this, even though I haven't got well known celebrities that will be in my trailer I will have merchandise to help make it popular for example a magazine etc.

Reference: http://www.slideshare.net/conmann2997/richard-dyers-star-theory-36585778

Textual analysis of existing products #2

Pride And Prejudice And Zombies - Trailer

Narrative

This film is set in the 19th century, where a mysterious plague turns the English countryside into a war zone of the dead. No one is safe as the dead are coming back to live from the black plaque that broke out many years ago. Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James) join forces with Mr. Darcey (Sam Riley), a handsome gentleman that doesn't listen to what people tell him to do. However, Elizabeth can't stand Darcy, but does respect how skilful he is at killing the death eating zombies. But they do unite when it comes to blood being soaked on the battlefield, so they can save their country once and for all. Also in this film many well known actors are used to help make it more popular to the audience, as the people have seen the celebrities before and they know that they have a lot of experience in this field and the director looks mostly for people who have a lot of experience to give the film the publicity it deserves.

Mise-en-scene

In this trailer the women are dominant than the males as they know how to fight and have been learning to do so all of their lives, this symbolic code shows that the female has a higher hierarchy over the males as they can look after themselves and don't need a knight in shining army to help them when in danger. Also this links to Maslow's hierarchy theory, when the theorist mentions about physiological needs this is certainly shown in this trailer where the women needs physical requirements for human survival and in this case to fight and to also reproduce more humans to over power the zombies. Showing that the characters are trying to survive a zombie apocalypse without getting killed. The Mise-en-scene that is used in this trailer is mostly aimed towards the make up being used and the special effects of the zombie characters as this helps the audience to understand that these characters are evil and are only there to cause trouble and eat human flesh, the director as especially done this at the beginning to help the audience to pick out exactly what is going on. In this scene the zombie even has it's own sound that helps give connotations towards it being a zombie as the audience might of heard of this sound before.

Editing

Editing is used in this piece to show a montage of a series of shots and shows continuity of editing to make sure that the narrative that it is being spoken from the character flows on easily linking to each word that is being said "a women must have a thorough knowledge of singing, dancing and the art of war" when this is said from the character Mr. Dacey there are matched and jump cut scenes that flow from this speech to show exactly what happens in the story as this is key information leading up to a climax but we aren't sure what yet as the director doesn't want to give too much away to the audience. 

Camera Shot angles

Many shot types are used including an establishing shot at the beginning to set the scene towards exactly where everything is going to be set, and the day seems normal until there is something mysterious that happens and we then see a young girl with a medium shot opening her bedroom door, to then see a close up of the zombie which makes it unusual and makes the audience set up an array of proaeretic questions such as 'why is this happening?' 'Who exactly is this girl?' Linking to shot types there is a really brilliant point of view shot from the zombie when the main character Mr. Darcey cuts it's throat open and you can see all the blood coming out, I know this bit is gruesome but I really like how it is shot and might do something like this for my trailer.

Preliminary Evaluation

From what was created in my preliminary the things that went well was that we used many different shots to help each scene flow on and to be in sync with the music that is also being played in the background. Also there was a bit of humour that made it interact with the audience to understanding more about the dangers of being on a phone and not watching what you are doing, also you interact with anyone around you because you are clued to the phone. Following on from this, it did have long shots and medium shots within the piece to help the audience understand exactly what is going on and every image was in focus so you could see the writing as well on the different pieces of paper as the girl walked straight passed it all. However it did lack professionalization at the beginning when the bit of the video jumps to the character suddenly being in a different place, plus the planning as well wasn't well organised and as a group we all just made up what we were going to do.

For my main product there needs to a lot more time and effort put into research and planning and the actually film needs to be crisp and clear and easy to understand, as this is extremely important in getting the best grade possible. As well as this, I have also learnt that there needs to be more professional titling that doesn't look like it was rushed. Overall, I do think that this preliminary video was a lot better made than my last one at AS because I didn't zoom in to any characters to show emotion or have a wobbly camera either. By having help from a group of people as well helped it to be well organised and we all had different tips and tricks in filming the best preliminary we could possibly create.

Preliminary - Youth Culture Video

Above is my Preliminary video that I have created about British Youth Culture, which shows that if you use your phone this can distract you from really important things in life and even cause you to drip over something. Also this video shows a before and after of someone using a phone and someone not using a phone and this shows the negatives and positives in my Preliminary.

How to make a dramatic movie trailer - example

From watching the above video I have learnt quite a lot of knew skills, even though it is an advert for using stock footage. It is very useful in showing how a film trailer should be made and the person in this video talks about the different shots that can be used to add effect with music to help it flow. For example there is a long shot of a person in the water looking like he is getting sucked into the deep blue sea, which is a turning point in the mood. He also used a really simple base line and added tones of distortion to it, and had the volume increase over a long period of time. Following on from this, it adds a high energy montage to add a bit of danger to some of the actors in this pretend movie trailer and this example is something that I could use to help me with the trailer that I am going to create myself.

Textual analysis of existing products #1

Before I Go To Sleep - Trailer

Narrative

This trailer is a psychological thriller based on its number one best selling book about a women who has severe amnesia whenever she goes to sleep remembering nothing the following day - this happened in her past from a serious accident. However, one day she discovers many terrifying truths and this questions her thoughts towards whether everyone around her can be trusted. Also she records all of this information she has discovered on a camera, so she can remember it the next day. Before I go to sleep is aimed at teenagers, making it stand out a lot more towards young adults rather than older as this film isn't too gory and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats wanting to find out more.

Camera Shots

Many close ups and extreme close ups are seen quite a lot throughout this trailer especially at the beginning when you just see a blood shot eye, suggesting this person is suffering from stress etc. also many movies or trailers often start with setting the scene with where the main action is taking place however this isn't used in this trailer. This puts forward the fact that the person is trapped in her own house and she has no idea about whether she is or not. In addition, she doesn't remember anything at all from the past. There is also many pan shots used to show where each character is and when the women is in the bathroom there is loads of pictures up on the wall and this shot is used to remind her each day of who she is and what her life was like in the past before her accident. Following on from this, black fades are used in the trailer to show past memories she might of forgotten but are starting to come back to her again in the present, and this also quickens the pace a lot more to show that someone did something horrific to her as there is a long shot of her in bed with another man. This man seems to be forcing a sexual relationship with her, showing that he is the person who attacked her but we aren't sure exactly who this person is as there is no identity seen. This type of scene links to a theory by Laura Mulvey and she attacks the way the dominant system in film presents only certain types of pleasure, arguing that the narrative of a fiction film creates images of women for the gratification of men. This is shown from the scene where the women is vulnerable in bed with a man, but she isn't forcing him away from her as she might have done it many times before.

Editing 

Well known actors like Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth are involved in this movie making the film stand out a lot more due to the fact that many people who watch this have seen these actors/actresses before in other movies. Non-diegetic music is used to show confusion, this links in well with what happens in the movie as this women is confused and has no idea where she is every time she wakes up. Each shot is cut to keep the audience guessing what is going to happen next and this gives it more of a mystery towards what is going on. As well as this, the trailer is synchronous with the cut scenes that are being used, making it more scary and dramatic and this is shown throughout this trailer when it is slow at the beginning but as it get's to the more important parts these scenes move along quicker to make it look like they were never there and this again links in nicely with the plot. Dialogue is spoken clearly by the main actors that are involved in this production and the speech is often overlapped by different scenes not just one, and this focuses attention on what they are saying. Many of the audience members might be asking questions like why has the director set it out like this? What might be the significance of these cut scenes?

Mise-en-scene

Finally, the bit that seems significant to show that she has forgotten her past life is when a long shot is used for when the phone rings. One of the main characters forces is heard here (Mark Strong) who is her doctor and he says "Christine, it's Doctor Nasch. You won't remember me, we've been doing some work on your memory. I'm not certain that Ben knows". This is said to let the audience understand a bit more about what is going on and what the women is doing with the Doctor, but even her husband doesn't know about this meet up which makes it suspicious.

Decision for coursework idea

I have decided to do a trailer as I feel I am used to filming industry style pieces, I haven't decided exactly what genre I want to do yet, but I am going to be analysing existing trailers to help me decide on what type of genre I would like to do for definite. This links to the Todorov's Narrative Theory suggests that there needs to be potential opposing forces that are balanced. This then is disrupted by an event or problem that takes place with a character, and then this creates a series of events that happen to try and resolve the conflict. These difficulties are often solved to help make the characters live happy ever after and not have the audience worry too much about them, but for a trailer there will not be a ending as it will give too much of it away to the audience. Analysing these pieces will help me with how one should look and what makes a trailer successful to get people to go and see the film, also gives me a idea for what the stages are for post production to get people interested. In addition, from experience of doing my previous AS blog I know what type of things need to be improved for my A2 coursework to give me a higher grade, especially the fact that everything needs to be continuous and flow throughout making it easier for the audience to understand. Overall, these elements need to be used in my trailer, but not give too much away as the audience will discover the main plot when they go and see the film. On the other hand from this theory these key points need to be used to make it more exciting and not get the audience bored towards making them not go and watch it.

Analysing other Blogs

Above I have clearly focused on different Blogs to help me figure out what will make my research and planning gain the top band of marks. Also by doing this it will help me towards how I should present everything on my blog and to have time management as this is important.

References:

http://ocrmediastudies.weebly.com/2015-16-inset.html

http://examplesofwork13.weebly.com/moderation-activities.html

Self Assessment - AS

Above is my teacher's feedback on my Blog from last year in AS, from this feedback I feel my A2 needs to be  nearly the same as what I did last year. However it needs to be more sophisticated by using target theories and being able to apply them into work done for my coursework.

Overall action Plan for research and planning to December

Above shows an overall action plan, but I might do it earlier or later depending on when I get each piece of work done. However, I will try and go by this acton plan as best as I can to give more time management.

Note to self: date is month/day/year

Draft action plan + ideas for trailer

Above is a few draft notes that I have written down for what my action plan should include and a little idea of what might be in my trailer, but not sure what genre yet as I have done a Thriller genre before in AS.